Pastor’s Thoughts – 05/17/2026

Since coming to grips with the Scriptural pathology of my wretched, sinful, condition many years ago, and as a critical component of my coming to faith, I have never given much consideration to the awards or crowns promised in Scripture. It has always amazed me that a sinner can be made righteous before God and even be given adoption as His son. Such undeserved manifestations through Christ are purely based on grace. Yet, God has even promised to those whom He has made alive in the new birth to award with crowns upon entering the eternal state. What can we make of this and especially knowing that God does not reward ignorantly, but with perfect judgment, nor does He reward without true merit? There are five heavenly crowns mentioned in the New Testament to be awarded to the saved at judgment in glory. They are the Imperishable Crown (1 Cor. 9:24-25), the Crown of Rejoicing (1 Thess. 2:19), the Crown of Righteousness (2 Tim. 4:8), the Crown of Glory (1 Pet. 5:4), and the Crown of Life (James 1:12). The Greek word translated “crown” is stephanos which means “a symbol of special honor.” We believe the inclusion of crowns is real but also symbolic and representative of what they address by name as each of these crowns will be cast before the Lord Jesus in worship. We are given a special glimpse into future glory in Revelation 4:10 where these same crowns are returned to Him. They also are another way of referring to the rewards of heaven that God has promised to all His saved in accordance to our faithfulness.

We should take note that each of these crowns by name express the unique promises of glory given throughout Holy Scripture. The names used to describe each crown also describe heaven. Each of the terms used (imperishable, rejoicing, righteous, glory, and life) address the very character of heaven and what existence will be like in the presence of our Lord. From this we can say that not only do these crowns speak of awards in heaven but define the nature of heaven itself. It therefore appears that all of these crowns will be the possession of all persons who enter heaven. We come full circle in our consideration of the meaning of these crowns when we recognize that the Bible is delineating the infinite difference between what we are currently experiencing in our fallen world with the wonder, majesty, and promise of heaven.

As an example, Paul addresses the Crown of Righteousness in 2 Timothy 4:8, “In the future there is reserved for me the Crown of Righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.” Using this crown as a representative example, Paul is expressing one of the characteristics that will be true of everyone entering heaven, and that is a condition of eager anticipation (Rom. 8:23) and a longing for Christ’s return (2 Cor. 5:2). There is also something else to consider when thinking in terms of awards. If we apply the same consideration to contests, or actual battles where victors are awarded in some special manner, we see the analogy to the most significant issue of all and that is our battle of overcoming the world (1 John 5:4). We understand this need for overcoming by the very words of Christ when addressing the difficulties of this life. He said, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

The idea of awards brings us back to the reality that this world is a battle in which we are spiritually engaged. In 1st Samuel 17:47, David expressed this to Goliath, the Philistine, before killing him. He said, “The battle is the Lord’s.” We know that such events are given to us as examples of what it means to live in a world filled with sinful problems and dangers at every turn of which we are called to live by faith, and to be overcomers. We move through life trusting our God, and seeking Him continually knowing that our battles will be overcome not by our own abilities but by our God.

So, just taking any of the crowns spoken of as an award, we see that these are awarded based on faithfulness during our current battle in the world, but a faithfulness we have without personal merit. Our faithfulness is a result of an ability that has been provided by Christ to all who by faith know Him and love Him. No matter how we look at the glory promised to all who belong to Christ, it always comes back in its entirety to the work and power of God, and not our personal merit. But, even though the power to overcome this world is of Him, He still awards us for our faithfulness in doing so. This encourages our present faithfulness in all circumstances and our devotion to Him in love. And because it is completely appropriate, we will lovingly cast our crowns at our Savior’s feet in thankful praise and worship (Rev. 4:10). The crowns are yet another picture to us of His amazing grace. What a delightful treat it will be to worship our Lord in this manner.